DNA analysis at University of Texas traces storied breed to first cattle in New World

Updated 9:28 pm, Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Longhorn steers, like these on a ranch southwest of Fort Worth, are as much a symbol of Texas as the state flower, bluebonnets.

Longhorn steers, like these on a ranch southwest of Fort Worth, are as much a symbol of Texas as the state flower, bluebonnets.

Photo: RON T. ENNIS, MBR

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Emily Jane McTavish, a UT doctoral student, grew up in New York. She came to admire longhorns as "amazing, beautiful, cool animals," and studies them on UT biology professor David Hillis' Double Helix Ranch.

Emily Jane McTavish, a UT doctoral student, grew up in New York. She came to admire longhorns as "amazing, beautiful, cool animals," and studies them on UT biology professor David Hillis' Double Helix Ranch.

Photo: UT-Austin

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UT biology graduate student Emily Jane McTavish and her professor, David Hillis, hang out with Longhorns at Hillis' Double Helix Ranch. The two have done the most comprehensive analysis to date of the Longhorn genome, tracing its origins back about 10,000 years.

UT biology graduate student Emily Jane McTavish and her professor, David Hillis, hang out with Longhorns at Hillis' Double Helix Ranch. The two have done the most comprehensive analysis to date of the Longhorn

Emily Jane McTavish, a doctoral student in the lab of UT biology professor David Hillis, hangs out with Longhorns at Hillis' Double Helix Ranch. McTavish and Hillis have done the most comprehensive analysis to date of the Longhorn genome, tracing its origins back about 10,000 years.

Emily Jane McTavish, a doctoral student in the lab of UT biology professor David Hillis, hangs out with Longhorns at Hillis' Double Helix Ranch. McTavish and Hillis have done the most comprehensive analysis to

It's the most comprehensive study of longhorns' DNA and the first that reveals their complex ancestry, McTavish said.

Only buffalo roamed

The cattle that Columbus brought on his second voyage to various Caribbean islands were the first cows anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

"It's really crazy," McTavish said. "Even just thinking about that, they're such a part of the environment now. Before Columbus came, there were buffalo but no cattle at all."

The Spaniards shipped cattle to the New World for about 20 years, but after 1512, those cows became an isolated group for the next 200 years or so, said McTavish, a doctoral student in ecology, evolution and behavior.

Cattle arrived in the area that would become Texas in the late 1600s.

McTavish, who grew up in suburban New York City, came to UT in 2007 to study evolutionary biology with Hillis, Her focus at that point was toads and salamanders.

She got interested in cattle partly because they're "amazing, beautiful, cool animals," and partly because agricultural research on cattle has produced a large database with a lot of genetic information.

"I said, 'Neat, I can use this same data to look at the evolutionary history,' " she recalled.

Hillis, who has a ranch, said he started raising longhorn cattle because they are part of the state's fabric and history.

Breed's diverse origins

While living here in feral herds, these cattle developed their distinctive horns, which protected their young from predators such as mountain lions, wolves, coyotes and bears, Hillis said.

"There was strong selection for animals with longer horns, which were better to defend their calves," he said. "They had a lot of genetic variation available for that selection, in part because of their diverse origins."

Over at Texas A&M University, Jason Banta, an assistant professor and beef cattle specialist in the university's AgriLife Extension Service in Overton, said longhorns are no longer prized for beef production because their meat is not as popular as that of other breeds.

"Where we do see a lot of longhorns is from a recreation standpoint or aesthetic standpoint," Banta said. "A lot of producers like to have that iconic longhorn out there grazing on their property."

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